How to Make Your Digital Photos Look Better in Three Easy Steps

Improve your digital photos with photo editing software.

Using only free software, anyone can improve the look of their digital photos quickly and easily. Most new computers are pre-bundled with some sort of digital imaging software, as are nearly all new digital cameras. These programs are too numerous to list, but some searching through your Applications folder or "Start" menu will usually lead to a suitable program. Similarly, the CD included with your new digital camera should have a program on it.
If you do not have such a program, there are many available on the Internet for free, including Gimp (gimp.org). After just these three steps, your unexceptional photos can look drastically better.

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Image editing software
• Digital Photos

Instructions

1. Load your photos onto your computer. It is helpful to place them all in one easy to find, well organized folder. Open up an image with your image editing program. It is wise to immediately save the image under a different name. This way, no matter how many changes you make, you still have the original, unaltered file to revert back to if some change goes wrong.

2. Fix the color balance. Many digital cameras won't always calculate the proper white balance when taking a picture. This can leave your images too red or too blue. In addition, fluorescent lighting or mixed lighting can cause incorrect color. In your photo editing application, go to the "Image/Adjustment/Color balance" menu to do these adjustments. You may have to search through the menus of your particular program.

   Move the sliders around until you find an optimal look. If your picture is too red, for example, find the "Red/Cyan" slider, and move the slider away from the red side, toward cyan. Move it slowly at first -- a small change can make a big difference. Your program may not use sliders, but it still should have a way to "move" the balance away from one color toward another.

3. Increase the contrast of your photos. Much of the difference between expensive and cheap camera lenses is the amount of contrast they can reproduce in the image. However, you can adjust this in your image editing program. In your photo editing application, go to the "Image/Adjustment/Color balance" menu to make these adjustments.

   Most programs will offer a preview of your change, so watch the image and increase the contrast until you like your image's look. Don't overdo it. You can also fiddle with the brightness if you want.

Tips & Warnings

• There are many more advanced ways of tweaking your digital photos. Explore the different effects and ways of manipulating your photos in your editing program -- remember, as long as you save the altered photo under a new name, you can't irreparably damage your pictures.

• Again, once you open a picture file, re-save it under a new name. This way you will always have the unaltered original, just in case you want to undo any tweaks in the future.

Resources

• Gimp
• 1WD.com: 28 Online Photo Editing Websites to Have Fun With